Yuengling Beer To Arrive In Connecticut Sept. 22

Will Go On Sale In Package Stores Oct. 6

MANCHESTER — Yuengling beer, which went on sale in Massachusetts in March and in Rhode Island in June will finally be widely available again in Connecticut in October.

The Pottsville, Pa.-based brewer had planned to roll out its brands simultaneously in Rhode Island and Connecticut in June, but ended up focusing only on Rhode Island to reach the summer vacationer market, said Rod Stack, vice president of sales at Manchester-based Hartford Distributors. HDI will distribute Yuengling to retailers, restaurants and bars in Hartford, Tolland and Middlesex counties.

Yuengling will go on sale in bars and restaurants Sept. 22, Stack said. It will be available in package stores Oct. 6.

"It is such a big brand and it's going to take time to execute everything,' Stack said.

Yuengling is the nation's oldest brewer, established in 1829. Its beers were available in Connecticut until 1996, when it withdrew from New England to focus on its core markets.

The company has gradually added brewing capacity and moved back into markets it used to serve.

"There is a very large buzz out there," Stack said.

Patti Paul, manager of M&R Liquors in Manchester, said customers have been asking for Yuengling for years and she said she expects it to sell well.

"That beer is super popular," said Paul, who has worked at M&R for 25 years. "People come back from vacation and they've tried it and they ask for it."

The initial Yuengling brands to be on sale in Connecticut will be the Traditional Lager, the Light Lager and the company's Black & Tan, Stack said.

Bill McEvila, manager at Harvest Wine and Spirits on Farmington Avenue in West Hartford, said Yuengling has generated "tons of interest."

People have been asking for the beer for a long time, he said, but that number has increased dramatically since the beer went on sale in Massachusetts.

"I'm guessing there's going to be a lot of support," he said. "A lot of the distributors were trying to get the brand because they know it should be big numbers for them."